Hydraulic turbine



April 26, 1938. J. P. SEATON 2,115,650

HYDRAULI C TURBINE Filed Aug. 10, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jase 02 P 56azommm ATTOR NEY .S

April 26, 1938. J. P. SEATON HYDRAULIC TURBINE I Filed Aug. 10, 1936 2Shets-Sheef 2 Jase 0% PSeaZozr 3 v INVENTOR Patented Apr. 26, 1938UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HYDRAULIC TURBINE Joseph P. Seaton, Bristol,Va.

Application August 10, 1936, Serial No. 95,260

Claims.

This invention relates to hydraulic turbines and has for an object toprovide a turbine formed of superposed sections or units including novelrotary spiral blades and stationary rectifying 5 blades, the waterstriking the first series of blades and imparting clockwise rotation tothe turbine shaft and being straightened or rectified by the stationaryblades to strike the next series of movable blades at an efficient angleto impart an additional impulse, this operation being repeated until thewater is finally discharged from a lower series of moving vanes wherebyall of the power to be derived from a given head of water will beutilized.

A further object is to provide gates for controlling the admission ofwater to the turbine, the gates being automatically controlled to admita predetermined volume of water by governor controlled electric motorswhereby the turbine will operate without manual attention.

A further object is to provide a turbine which will be formed of a fewstrong simple and durable parts, which will be inexpensive tomanufacture, and which will not easily get out of order.

With the above and other objects in View the invention consists ofcertain novel details of construction and combinations of partshereinafter fully described and claimed, it being understood thatvarious modifications may be resorted to within the scope of theappended claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any ofthe advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a hydraulic turbine constructed inaccordance with the invention with parts shown in section and with partsbroken away. Figure 2 is a plan view of the turbine.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 3-4 of Figure '1.

' Referring now to the drawings in which like characters of referencedesignate similar parts in the various views, the outer cylindricalcasing of the turbine is shown to be formed of a plurality of units H),H, I2, and I3, having butted flanges l4 bolted together as shown at l 5,it being understood that as many of these units may be superposed uponeach other as desired.

The lowermost unit is secured toan annular base l6 and is equipped witha spider I! having at its center a hub l8 equipped with roller bearingsl9 to support and receive the thrust of the turbine vertical shaft 20,there being a ball race 2| interposed between the hub l8 and a flange 22on the shaft-to reduce friction.

The top of the casingis closed by a cover plate 23 which is bolted,riveted, or otherwise secured to the cylindrical wall of the uppermostunit l0, 5 and is provided with a central bearing 24 to receive theturbine shaft 20. The turbine shaft projects considerably above thebearing and power may be taken from the projecting end of the shaft inany suitable manner. 6

Rigidly secured to the shaft by means of set screws 25, 26 and 21 arespiders 28, 29, and 39 of the general shape shown in Figure 3. On theperipheries of the spiders are secured hollow cylinders 3|, 32 and 33which carry the moving 15 blades 34, 35, and 36 respectively.

The blades 34, 35 and 36 are arranged spirally around their respectivehollow cylinders and each is provided with a rearwardly curved leadingend 31, as best shown in Figure 1 for a purpose which 0 will presentlyappear. The stationary blades of the three units shown are indicated bythe numerals 3B and 39 and these blades are connected at their inner andouter longitudinal edges to respective stationary inner and outercylinders 5 4l)--4l and 42-43. The outer cylinders are riveted, bolted,or otherwise rigidly secured to the cylindrical casings of the units, asshown.

The stationary blades 38 and 39 are spirally arranged between theirrespective supporting inso her and outer cylinders and are inclinedreversely with respect to the movable blades above and below them sothat water leaving the first series of movable blades, after impartingan impulse to the rotor shaft in a clockwise direction, will 35 strikethe stationary blade and be thereby straightened or rectified to impingeagainst the next lowermost series of movable blades at an efiicientangle.

. By reason of the reversely curved leading ends 49 31 of the movable,blades the water upon leaving the stationary blades will impinge againstthese curved'ends and impart an initial impulse independent of theimpulse imparted by the weight of the water as it gravitates down the 45spiral portion of the blades.

About the upper spider 28 a flaring or conical closure 44 is arranged toprevent water from entering the interior of the rotary cylinders 3|, 32and 33 carried by the turbine shaft. The closure 50 is provided at thebottom with a flange 45 which is bolted as shown at 46 or otherwisesecured to the uppermost spider 28. The closure is provided at its apexwith a hub 41 which is sleeved on the turbine shaft 20.

" tion.

for adjusting the gates, and centrifugal governor Water enters theuppermost section of the turbine through oppositely disposed ports 48and 49 which are controlled by respective gates 50 and 5| Each gate isslidably fitted in guides 52 and is equipped with a rack 53 which mesheswith a pinion 50' driven through a conventional reduction gear mechanism55 which is connected to the shaft 56 of an electric motor 51 that ismounted on the cover plate 23.

For controlling the gates to restrict the entrance of water to apredetermined volume a centrifugal governor 58 is mounted on the turbineshaft 20 and the vertically sliding sleeve 59 of the governor isequipped with a ring 60. A lever BI is connected to the ring and iscentrally pivoted on a bracket 62 that rises from the cover plate,

the free end of the lever being equipped with&

moving switch contacts 63 of a reversing switch which alternately engagethe switch contacts 64 and 65 of the switch to reverse the flow ofcurrent simultaneously through the circuits 66 and 6'! of the motors.

When the flow of water becomes too great spreading of the governor ballswill operate the lever 6| to throw the reversing switch in one directionand actuate the motors to close the gates while conversely when the headof water becomes too low the governor balls will drop and actuate thelever 6| to operate the reversing switch and reverse the direction ofcurrent through the motors to open the gates.

Although by way of example the turbine has been described as having theshaft rotated clockwise, it will be understood that the blades may be soset as to impart counterclockwise rotation to the shaft if desired.

From the above description it is thought that the construction andoperation of the invention will be fully understood without furtherexplana- What is claimed is: 1. A hydraulic turbine formed of superposedcasing sections, rotary spiral blades and stationary spiral blades inalternate sections, a turbine shaft connected integrally with saidrotary blades,

the uppermost section of said sections having a plurality of ports fordistributing and directing water into the lower sections, gatescontrolling the ports of said uppermost section, individual motorscontrolled means responsive to speed of the turbine shaft for reversingthe motors to raise and lower the gates.

2. A hydraulic turbine formed of superposed casing sections, the upperof said sections having a plurality of ports for distributing anddirecting water into the lower sections, each of the sections below saidupper sections housing rotary spiral blades and having stationaryrectifying blades adjustable gates controlling the ports in said uppersection, and means controlled by the speed of the turbine shaft foreffecting the adjustment of said motor operated gates.

3. A hydraulic turbine comprising inner and outer cylinders, stationaryspiral blades on the outer cylinder, rotary spiral blades on the innercylinder spaced in a rectilinear vertical direction from the stationaryblades and having their upper leading ends reversely curved to receivewater laterally from the stationary blades, a shaft integrally connectedwith the inner cylinder and r0- tated thereby, a plurality of entranceports in the outer cylinder adapted to distribute and direct water intothe space between the cylinders, and gates adjustably mounted on theouter casing to control the flow of Water through the ports.

4. A hydraulic turbine including superposed sections or units, each unitincluding inner and outer casings, stationary blades secured to theouter casing, rotary blades secured to the inner casing, a turbine shaftintegrally associated with the rotary blades, the water striking thefirst series of rotary blades and imparting rotation to the turbineshaft and being straightened or rectified by the stationary blades tostrike the next series of movable blades at an efficient angle to impartan additional impulse, an annular base carried by the lowermost sectionor unit, a spider carried by said base, a turbine shaft supported bysaid spider, spiders on the shaft above the shaft supporting spider andintegrally connected with said rotary blades for rotating the shaft, afunnel shaped closure sleeved on the shaft and carried by the uppermostsection or unit, a plurality of ports in the uppermost section or unitdisposed laterally of the funnel shaped closure for distributing thewater admitted to the turbine, said closure directing. the water fromthe ports downwardly through the blades at a distance laterally from therotary shaft, and means for controlling said ports.

5. In a hydraulic turbine, superposed units detachably connectedtogether, spiders on certain of the units, a shaft extending upwardlythrough the spiders and fixed thereto, spiral blades on the spidershaving reversely curved leading ends, stationary blades on certain ofthe units inclined reversely with respect to the rotary blades andadapted to strike Water gravitating from the rotary blades and dischargethe same against said curved upper ends to impart initial impulse thereto prior to the weight of the water gravitating on the blades impartingrotation of the blades and to the shaft, a plurality of ports in theuppermost unit for distributing the water admitted to the turbine,vertically sliding gates controlling said ports, electric motors foradjusting the gates, a centrifugal governor on said shaft, circuits forthe motors, a switch for reversing the flow of current through themotors for reversing the motors, and a connection between said governorand said switch for actuating the switch.

' JOSEPH P. SEATON."

